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Topic: Base Class Ideas? (Read 6783 times)

What iconic fantasy professions are floating around - either from fiction or other games that people think might make for a good start-to-finish heroic journy for characters they'd like to play? I'm looking at scripting up some new base classes to cover variations or different takes on some of the existing roles. I'm curious if folks have some other tropes they'd like to see fleshed out.

Things on my mind include~Archon - been beating on this one for ages. the Captain re-envisioned specifically for a world of fantastical mosnters and powerful spellcasters.

Avenger - a nod to one of my favorite D&D 4e classes mechanically and something that delivers the Tenchu/Assassin's Creed gameplay so often expected from the Assassin class. Stealth kill with a smidgeon of supernatural exellence.

Gladiator - a combatant without the Soldier's focus on armor or weapon specialization, and instead building Edge from the roar of the crowd.

Harbinger - a blend of direct martial aptitude and a whole series of savagely debilitating misfortune inspired by the Hexblade but rendered largely without spell use.

Idea is that these could exist along side the existing classes to flavor some settings, or replace a few in others. Just sort of rattling the tools around in the box to see what sticks together .

What sort of loose concepts do other folks have rattling around that say "you should be able to start out as one of these, no just graduate to it as an expert class"?

The concept of the 2.0 Transporter ExC always struck me as having deserved the base class treatment while the Wheelman should have been ExCed, and the version I came up with bears that out as it pretty much gives you Strider/Aragorn.

Please Note: This is not because I'm not a fan of the game (I think it looks excellent so far, though I've only looked through it a little for fear of spoilers - I'm still in novel 1). I've actually been planning a fantasy game with different types of magic based on region and race/culture. The 8 Spellbound classes represent one group. Another has an alchemical basis, and the Mistborn actually represent what I want them to be extremely well (not Mistings though - though that might be good for a sort of ubiquitous magic equivalent).

I wouldn't mind seeing the Wild Shape Ranger from D&D (this might be like Morganti's WoW Druid suggestion, but I don't play WoW). Just to be sure - it was a Ranger who gained Wild Shape (per Druid), but lost his spells, pet and combat style. I'd base it more on the Priest then the Scout though.

A Pact Class. There was one in D&D's Tome of Magic, but I only glanced at it briefly when a mate had it a few years ago. The idea is a guy who gets powers based on unknowable horrors that he makes Faustian bargains with. They vary to suit said unknowable horror.

The fact is I find Paths' mix of spells and special abilities to be a lot more conducive to the flavor of inherent power than spellpoints. Plus the fact that Paths will not grant you many different spells is good for dabbler-style characters.

Half the point of the thread is to mention what Expert Class concepts we think we'd also like to see as Base Class concepts.

I know, I know. It's just that there is nothing I'd like to see as Base Class. There are already quite a lot of them and I wouldn't like to see too many more. But that may be just me. On the other hand, I feel there are many Expert and Master classes that could be done.

A Pact Class. There was one in D&D's Tome of Magic, but I only glanced at it briefly when a mate had it a few years ago. The idea is a guy who gets powers based on unknowable horrors that he makes Faustian bargains with. They vary to suit said unknowable horror.